ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we analyse contemporary Russian ideologies and culture in the light of our new paradigm. Anomy, desecularization, and a conservative political project are developing as parallel phenomena that share an internal connection. Desecularization is an answer to anomy when ideologies are weak, and around desecularization a more comprehensive conservative ideological project is starting to evolve. The existing literature is paying increasing attention to the new conservative turn in Russia. However, this phenomenon has not been properly theorized. Our results show that Russian conservatism is a complex phenomenon; multifaceted, and a work in progress. However, Russia’s constantly top-down reproduced statism has also produced its counterforces. For Russian cultural identity, the key antinomies are: global processes versus nationalistic closing, and a conservative hegemonic project versus secular liberalism.
